Scot Rumery’s Lifestream

Craft Brew Series Kicks Off With a Small Batch

On 08.22.10, In craft brew, family, stories, by Scot

Grilladelic kicks off it’s craft brew series in style. Today, we will be at a local brewery making a small batch of beer. After we’re done, we’ll head over to a family barbecue. It will be an epic day. The entries below flow in throughout the brewing cycle. Keep the page up and it will poll new entries on the fly.

Today was an attempt to live blog while brewing beer. That proved to be difficult at times during the hurry up and wait game. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Google launching a Chrome OS tablet on Verizon, goes on sale November 26

by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Aug 18th 2010 at 9:00AM

The title pretty much says it all on this one, folks.

Yes, our source tells us that Google is building a Chrome OS tablet. It's real, and it's being built by HTC. No surprise there, since HTC churned out the Nexus One for Google.

Yes, they plan to offer it in conjunction with Verizon -- which probably doesn't come as a shock to anybody at this point. The two recently tag-teamed that Net Neutrality proposal and they've had plenty of discussions in the past about cooperating in some capacity.

As for the launch date of November 26th, well, that's all kinds of brilliant. It's Black Friday 2010 and the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. -- so what better day to have a shiny new tablet in the cabinet at Verizon kiosks and stores all over the country? You can bet Google's Chrome OS tablet will be heavily subsidized, and I'd go so far as to say it will be substantially cheaper than the iPad -- if not totally free -- with a Verizon data contract.

So what will the Google tablet pack for hardware? It'll likely be based on NVidia's Tegra 2 platform and sport a 1280x720 multitouch display, 2GB of RAM, minimum 32GB SSD, WiFi/Bluetooth/3G connectivity, GPS, webcam, and possibly expandable storage via a multi-card reader. Expect it to be every bit as geek-tastic as the Nexus One -- Google won't want to disappoint its early adopters.

I have been waiting for an announcement on the tablet front. I'm sure a tablet announcement for Android is not far behind.

I have more questions but for now ... Awesome!

It's just easier to care about soccer now. Actually, it's something of a perfect storm -- the technology in place, the flaws of our own professional sports, the efficiency of soccer games, our longing for the pre-JumboTron days when people just cheered and that's what fans did, our best-of-the-best fetish, ESPN's unwavering commitment to pushing the sport, the urgency of every game -- that makes more sense as a whole than it did 10 years ago. After that crushing Ghana defeat, the U.S. players weren't devastated just because they blew a winnable game, but because they knew a growing number of Americans actually cared and it wasn't simply a bandwagon thing. (The TV ratings backed it up: an astonishing 19.4 million U.S. viewers.) It was like pining for the same girl for four years in college, finally hooking up with her one night, then getting kicked out of school the next day.

Dammit! I blew it! I had her! We could have had something!

Regardless, the U.S. completed Stage 1. Soccer is no longer taking off. It's here. Those celebratory YouTube videos that started popping up in the 24 hours after Donovan's goal -- all unfolding the same way, with a stationary shot of nervous fans watching the game in a bar, going quiet for a couple of seconds during the American counterattack, reacting to Dempsey's miss ("Nooooooooo!"), holding their breath for two beats ("Wait a second …"), exploding on Donovan's finish ("Hi-yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"), then chanting "USA! USA! USA!" afterward -- tapped into a collective American sports experience unlike anything since Lake Placid.

I would never compare Donovan's goal to Mike Eruzione's goal, or compare the significance of an early-round World Cup game to the best American sports night ever. But you can't tell me Donovan's goal was a fleeting moment or a lark. Each celebration clip that landed on YouTube could have been any American bar, any group of American friends, anywhere. Like John Cougar Mellencamp's annoying Chevy commercial sprung to life. Only it wasn't annoying. I thought it was glorious. Those clips choked me up. Those clips gave me goosebumps. Those clips made me think, "I forget this sometimes, but I'm glad I live in the United States of America."

Rasheed Wallace loved to say "ball don't lie." YouTube don't lie, either. We will always have the Algeria game. Always.

July 4, 2010

 

 

Declaration of Grilladelic

 

 

HEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve any political, regional or cultural differences, which have separated them, and to assume among them the universal camaraderie of the grill.  Backyard barbecues, family reunions, picnics and tailgate parties all require respect to the opinions of many.  Thus, we declare the common ground that binds us all in a smoky solidarity.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all grills are created equal, but hardwood charcoal just makes the food taste better; that you should trust the instant read thermometer, and never exceed 135 degrees with steaks, so they are never overcooked; that briskets, pork butts and ribs require low temperatures, indirect heat, a slow pace, a good dry rub and heavy smoke;

• that supporting your local butchers, farmer’s markets, sausage makers and specialty stores create a more vibrant community
• that all foods, including veggies, pizzas and desserts have unalienable rights and should be welcome on every grill
• that an open fire, family, friends, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the foundations of the great State of Grilladelic–a global community for grilling, barbecuing and tailgating enthusiasts